O papel da tecnologia da informação nas instituições de ensino superior : um estudo de caso em uma instituição de ensino privada e comunitária

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how Unisinos´s Information Technology area should be structured and which services should be provided to meet the institutional strategic and operational needs. The theoretical framework deals with concepts of strategy, strategic planning, IT alignment, strategy in educational institutions and IT governance. With the purpose of capturing the institutional strategy in motion and proposing a greater alignment, techniques of data collection and analysis focused on different groups of the academic community were used to reach all stakeholders in the research. Interviews were carried out with eight Unisinos managers, questionnaires were applied to Unisinos employees and their IT staff, and the Institutional Evaluation Report was analyzed to collect perceptions of students, professors and employees about the technological infrastructure. From the information collected, it was possible to identify the need for a more proactive and protagonist IT area, both in the planning process and in the institutional strategy. The research revealed the need for a real alignment, not just as a response to the organization's actions, and the need for an IT area that prospects technological trends, supporting the business to understand its potentialities. As a result, a set of actions is suggested to target IT activities according to the needs of the institution, such as the study of Unisinos´s Institutional Development Plan and strategic planning, development of the strategic planning of IT, qualification and expansion of employees participation in events, study of trends and technologies, creation of experimentation environments, empowerment of the IT management committee, among others.